“Cloud native” refers to the design and implementation of applications that are built from the start to run in cloud environments. The term encompasses a range of tools, best practices, and methodologies for building and running scalable and resilient applications in modern, dynamic cloud environments. Here are some key principles and characteristics of cloud-native applications:
Microservices Architecture
Cloud-native applications often use a microservices design, where each functionality is broken down into small services that run as independent units. This makes it easier to scale, update, and maintain parts of the application without affecting the whole system.
Containerization
Containers, like those managed by Docker or rkt, are lightweight, standalone, and executable software packages that encompass all the dependencies an application needs to run. This ensures consistency across different deployment environments.
Dynamically Orchestrated
Cloud-native apps are often orchestrated in an automated manner. Kubernetes is a prime example of an orchestration tool that manages, scales, and maintains containers based on declarative configurations.
Resilient
These applications can handle failures without catastrophic consequences. They are designed to self-heal by restarting failed containers, redistributing network traffic, and automatically replicating services.
Elastically Scalable
Cloud-native applications can automatically scale up or down based on the workload. This is typically achieved with orchestration platforms and auto-scaling cloud solutions.
DevOps and Continuous Delivery/Integration
The development and operations processes are integrated, often automated, to promote frequent updates and rapid iteration.
API-Driven
Cloud-native applications often offer functionalities through APIs, which allows for integration with other services and components.
Infrastructure as Code (IaC)
Infrastructure configuration is managed using code and software development techniques, such as version control.
Stateless
Wherever possible, cloud-native applications are designed to be stateless, which means any instance of an application can handle any request. Any required state is offloaded to external services (like databases or caching systems).
Immutable Infrastructure
Once deployed, components do not change. Instead of updating them, new versions are built and old versions are discarded.
Open Source Stack
Cloud-native often leans heavily on open source technologies. From Kubernetes to Prometheus and more, many cloud-native tools are open source. The Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) is a significant entity in the cloud-native landscape, stewarding many projects that form the backbone of the cloud-native ecosystem.
TLDR; Cloud Native Concepts
Overall, the goal of cloud-native is to take full advantage of the cloud computing model to achieve agility, resilience, and scalability in application development and operations.
–EOF (The Ultimate Computing & Technology Blog) —
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